Combination backstay and sheet for sailing vessels



Oct. 28, 1952 H. M. DOBBINS ,6 5,417

COMBINATION BACKSTAY AND SHEET OR SAILING VESSELS Filed June 16, 1949 I 1 20 27 z/ I 26' 29 Z6 Y 0 n Z8 I I INVENTOR. 11277 5' Horace M Babb/77s 1 AI'I'D NEY Patented Oct. 28, 1952 I y coMBiNA'rIonBAcKsTAY AND SHEET Eon to .sAILI-NG VESSELS Horace M. Dobbins, Charleston, S. C.

1 Application June 16, 1949,. Serial No. 99,520.

2 Claims. (01(11'4-102).

PATENT This invention; relates to. a combination back- A. boom 2015 provided. at one en,d..wi'th.fyoke stayand sheet for sailing vessels. or; other device 2|. connecting; it withtl e mast It has been the custom to attach the backso as to allow the boomtoswing fromsidetqside.

stays independently to cleats iastened to. the g .A stay 22 is securedinflafwell, knownmanner deck of afs'ailing vessel. The sheets. are; also 2 .to a truck 23 mounted. .adjacent the. 'top oi. the connected independently to cleats or other. means mast l2 while the opposite end Di the. stay is so that each of the back-stays and sheets must secured to the outer end oi the boom .ZBas' at 24 be manipulated independently for loosening a for supportof' the boom at a proper angle. "A

sheet or back-stay while tightening a coopersail (not shown) is connected between the mast ating stay and sheet when varying the position and boom in the customary manner.

of a sail and the boom. It will be noted from Figure 1 that the stay It is an object of the present invention to comforms a one-piece line with a sheet 25 where bine a back-stay and sheet in such a manner said sheet and stay are trained on and between in connection with a Windlass that the combined pulleys 26 and 21 which are mounted on the deck stays and sheets are wound on the Windlass, at one side of the ship. The sheet is carried over the operation of the windlass and the shifting of a pulley 26' which swings from an extension 21' the boom while stabilizing the position of said projecting from the outer end of the boom. The

boom being accomplished by a single operator. sheet 25 is directed downwardly and trained on A further object of the invention is the proa pulley 28 which is mounted on the deck directly vision of a back-stay forming a single line with 20 below the pulley 26.

a sheet at each side of a ship for shifting and Awindlass designated generally by the numeral controlling the positon of a boom, the lines on 29 includes a drum 30 and a crank 3| for rotating both sides of the ship being wound on a Windlass said drum, but if preferred, an electric motor in one direction or released in the opposite dimay be employed for operating the windlass. A

rection for stabilizing the boom at all times, the base 32, secured to the deck, supports the drum lines being wound on the Windlass in an orderly and crank. A brake device or other instrumanner, thereby eliminating cleats and the loose mentality (not shown) is employed in a well ends of the lines on the deck of the ship; means known manner for retaining the drum against being employed for retaining the Windlass norrotation.

mally against rotation. The stay l6 and sheet 33 forms a single line,

The invention is best understood from a conthe sheet 33 being trained through respective sideration of the following detailed description pulleys 34, 35, and 36 while the stay portion of in connection with the accompanying drawing, the line is trained through a pulley 31. The nevertheless it must be borne in mind that the sheets 25 and 33 have their free ends attached to invention is not confined to the disclosure but 0 the drum and are wound in one direction or reis susceptible of such'changes and modifications leased in the opposite direction of rotation of as shall define no material departure from the the drum.

salient features of the invention as expressed in The operation of my device is as follows:

the appended claims When it is desired to shift the boom, the crank In the drawings: 40 3! is revolved in the direction indicated by the Figure 1 is a plan view of the deck of a sailarrow in Figure 1 and the sheets 25 and 33 are ing vessel showing my arrangement of the comwou d on the drum 30. In this manner the bined stays and sheets; sheets are retained on the drum in an orderly Figure 2 is a side view of the sailing vessel with manner while the boom is shifted and held in a the combined stays and sheets in an operative predetermined position at all times. position; and j When it is desired to shiftthe boom in the op- Figure 3 is a view of the stern of the ship disposite direction from that just described, the

closing the arrangement of the stays and sheets crank 31 is reversely rotated and the sheets 25 on guiding pulleys.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, will be seen that the boom is maintained in a l0 designates a sailing vessel having a, stern H. stabilized position at all times, whether the boom Amast l2 rises from the deck 13 andis supported is aligned with the center of the ship or shifted by stays l4, l5 and IS. The stays i5 and It in to either side of said center.

this particular instance have a special construc- When the boom is allowed to swing out to tion which will be described presently. the port side, the stay on the starboard side is and 33 are unwound from the drum. Thus, it t drawn tight by the pressure of the wind on the sail and vice versa, releasing both sheet lines at the same time, tightening the one on the opposite side to which the boom is released and loosening the one on the side the boom goes out on so that it will not interfere with the boom and vice versa when the boom goes out to the starboard side.

What I claim:

1. In a sailing vessel having a mast, a pair of stays directed from the top of the mast to points on the deck at opposite sides of the vessel, a boom, means pivotally attaching the inner end of the boom to the mast, the free end of said boom terminating adjacent one end of the vessel, a sheet integral with each stay and disposed upon respective sides of the center line of the vessel, pulleys mounted on the deck and pulleys suspended from the free end of the boom for guiding the combined stays and sheets, a rotatable drum mounted on the deck, the free ends of both sheets being fastened to and coiled on the drum in one direction;

2. In a sailing vessel provided with a mast and boom having one end pivoted to said mast, a stay and a sheet combined to form a single lineleading from the top of the mast to the free end of 4 the boom, a second stay and sheet combined to form a single line leading from the top of the mast to the free end of the boom, said combined stays and sheets being disposed on respective sides of the center line of the vessel, pulleys for guiding each combined stay and sheet close to the deck of said vessel, a rotatable drum mounted on the deck intermediate the ends of the boom, means for rotating the drum, and pulleys suspended from the free end of the boom for guiding the sheets from the first mentioned pulleys to the drum, rotation of the drum in either direction causing not only shifting of the boom but stabilizing the position of the boom at all times.

HORACE M. DOBBINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'IENTS Clement May 25, "1 26 

